Atonement
by dropsofpuresky
Summary: As graduation nears, an internship offer from the ministry gives Scorpius the future he thinks he needs. Scorpius thinks his life is all planned out for him. Rose only wants him to reconsider the options. Perhaps the future ISN'T set in stone. Scorose, in their seventh year.


**A/N: Disclaimer: Obviously, I didn't write the marvelous Harry potter series. If I did, life would be a little better.**

**Summary: As graduation nears, an internship offer from the ministry gives Scorpius the future he thinks he needs. Scorpius thinks his life is all planned out for him. Rose only wants him to reconsider the options. Perhaps the future ISN'T set in stone. Scorose, in their seventh year.**

"I've got my papers."

It was six in the morning, and a young woman was curled up by the common room fireplace clutching a red blanket around her shoulders. Her feet rested on the fireplace with the flames nearly licking at her toes. In the dim light of morning, just a few minutes before the sunrise, one could barely make out her pale skin and light dusting of freckles, resting in stark contrast to her deep auburn hair. At the four words that had broken the silence in the room, she turned swiftly towards an archway behind her.

The voice she had heard behind her came from a man standing a few feet behind her, next to a set of staircases. Clad in a set of red and gold pajama bottoms and black shirt, he stood lazily against the wall clutching a few pieces of parchment in his left hand. With his right hand, he reached up to lazily brush some of his messy platinum hair out of his pale grey eyes. When her eyes caught his, widening with interest, he came to sit next to her by the fire.

"An owl just brought them a few minutes ago." He exhaled loudly, handing her the papers. Taking the papers into her hands, she shuffled through them slowly, taking in every word and occasionally muttering aloud what she was reading. At certain points in the letter, she nodded her head in approval and began grinning. She set the letter down and hugged him around his stomach.

"Scorpius, I am so proud of you" she exclaimed, clutching his middle firmly. "I never doubted you for a minute, but nevertheless. I mean, you're positively brilliant, but this was so competitive and - you know what this means, right?"

"That the last seven years have finally paid off?" He said, a beam spreading across his face.

"Yes, but it also means you can do anything you want with your life. You could be a Healer, a Teacher, hell, even the Minister of Magic."

"More importantly," he said softly, pulling the oversized blanket to cover them both as he scooted closer to the fire, "Nothing can stand between me and my Auror training."

"I still don't understand why you're so adamant about being an Auror. There are so many other things you could be doing."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to properly explain it to you."

She sighed, only temporarily willing to accept his answer.

Rose had met Scorpius during their first year. The boy had always been calm and collected and he was, overall, a very pleasant person. That was the reason he peaked her interest. She had never met someone who was able to handle chaos with such relative ease.

Amid the young students eagerly awaiting the fated sorting, this boy stood like a statue until it was his turn. And the effect he had on her was healing, as if he was calming the chaos she felt just by standing like a beacon of hope. He was the epitome of perfection and the living incarnate of the eye of a storm.

She was captivated. Poor Rose never had a chance.

She spent every waking hour around him. In their classes, in the common room, out wandering the castle. It was almost no time until they had both know everything the other had hidden behind their walls.

She knew about his hatred of his last name and everything that it carried. He knew about her fears of disappointing others. She met his grandfather and was the only person who could calm him down from his bouts of unrelenting anger. He was as much her family as any of her cousins and only he could tell when she was truly upset. Yet there were still strong barriers between them. They were both stubbornly determined. They had expected this to be their undoing.

However, they managed to get along perfectly for almost seven years. Their fights were meaningless or utterly short, full of compromise and respectful understanding.

She always looked out for him, even if that was the last thing he wanted, because she knew he would sacrifice his happiness for the people he cared about.

He refused to let anything or anyone upset her, because he hated watching her in pain.

Their undoing came when these two decisions came in contrast.

"I am going to be an Auror." Two days had passed since his acceptance owl arrived and, once again, the early morning hours found the two friends huddled together around the fire, sitting legs crossed as their argument began.

"Why?" She was beginning to show signs of upset as his determination began to leak through.

"Because I want to do something respectable with my life." His voice escalated steadily as his half-truth began.

"And that's the only way to do that?" He was growing tired of her constant need for him to justify his career choice when he was perfectly satisfied with his decision. He had his own reasons and those were private. Although it probably would have been better if he had just told his best friend. But it was too late, anyways. He got up from his warm spot next to her and paced across the room running his hands through his hair.

"It's the only way I can." He whispered the partial confession softly, praying she had not heard him over the dull roar of the flames next to her. He was mistaken, for at this, her eyes darkened. She threw her blanket aside and stalked over to him. Her next words came as a shout as she crossed the room.

"This is about Lucius, isn't it? And don't you bloody dare lie to me." He looked around to ensure that no one had come down, woken up by their yelling, or, more pointedly, her outburst. With her threat, she walked right up to him and poked him directly in the center of his chest.

"After what my grandfather did-" He hesitated as he spoke, unwilling to elaborate. It was no matter. She already knew. The further they went into this conversation, the harder it would be for him to handle without breaking down and the harder it would be for her to bring him out of that state. She didn't let him try to finish that sentence. Delicately, she placed his hands on each of his cheeks as a gesture of comfort and familiarity. He knew in an instant that he was getting worked up about this and she was worried. She had that look in her eye that showed him that she was upset.

"The world is not judging you for what your family did. It's in the past. Why are you so fixated on atoning for their actions?" Her voice seemed to be calmed. He knew better. He grabbed her right hand and intertwined it with his left, watching as she slowly relaxed to adjust to his comforting and intimate gesture. He spoke continuously in a whisper, reminding her to watch her volume, and providing her some sort of calm and stable familiarity.

"It's all I know. What else am I supposed to do?" At this, her other hand dropped to her side, in apparent defeat. Her defeated tone showed through her voice as, slightly uncertain, she sighed and offered any alternative that might change his mind.

"Find something to live for. Do something that makes your life worthwhile and stop being afraid of doing something for you. Do what feels right."

So he did just that.

And for the first time since he sat down next to her after their sorting, he acted purely out of selfishness.

With his free hand, he wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck where it met her skull, effectively drawing her face upwards slightly.

He pressed his lips fleetingly against her forehead. Moving his head down, he set himself at her eye level, mere inches from each other, before he whispered.

"I am going to live my life wherever the morning and night are the same shade as your eyes."

She stared, confused, until he kissed her and set in motion the feelings that she had ignored and forgotten. She clung to him as her head spun.

In between faint kisses and dizzy breaths she remembered how much he made her care about everything.

"I have a compromise for you." He spoke firmly after the kisses subsided. She nodded, waiting for the rest of his words. "I will take the ministry internship, and then I will proceed to training."

"Please don't say Auror." He smirked at her desperate plea.

"Actually, I was thinking more International Law and Ethics." At this, Rose sprung to kiss him.

He laughed as they parted, amused by her eagerness. He continued with his compromise, nervous and excited at the same time, while Rose listened curiously.

"And you will do whatever you want to do with your career. And I will find myself a nice flat in our favorite part of town, and not too far from the ministry. And-"

"And what?"

"You could live there, too. And after that, who knows. We could end up getting married or working in the same department or be the best flat mates ever or something and nothing would change, yet everything would change."

"Sounds like you've got it all figured out. Now where is this compromise you mentioned?"

"This will be my life and my world. If, and only if, you swear to make it yours, too."

"Well, I do need to get my housing settled for after graduation, so, I suppose-" She hesitated, analyzing the expression painted across Scorpius's face. After seeing the pure fear in his eyes as he waited in desperation, Rose choked back a laugh before settling with a more serious demeanor. "I would love that."

For one split second, the world opened for Scorpius and he saw the life he wanted right in his grasp - his whole world was held tightly in his arms as the sun shone brightly upon the two of them.

**A/N: It took my about three hours to write the first half of this and three months to write the second half. I was going to give this to you for Easter, but I'm running a little behind, eh? I am always late with these things...**

**Any ways... This is, in fact, a one-shot, but... I don't know... I could be convinced to write a sequel. But I'd need reviews ... and only you guys can do that. So review and ask for more, and you shall receive. Ignore that review button...and your input will be ignored as well 3**

**Not that I'm begging for reviews or anything.**

**Thanks for taking the time to read this. I think this is my favorite version of Scorpius out of any of my stories, written or in progress. **

**If you want me to write something, hit up those reviews, and I'll be happy to do it.**

**Have a great day/night/whatever it is for you 3**

**Love, dropsofpuresky**


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